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Thus, the hordes of the Great Darkness have descended upon the Library, scholars, and warriors running amok in madness as the shelves burn. Fleshbeasts howl as the Ways groan in corruption. Scores of abominations trample screaming patrons, and clouds of smoke waft among the survivors. The Serpent is beset and the Docents have fallen to the central desk. The flesh-covered drums beat, and the Regent of Crimson has left his dark throne. They say he is marching here! We cannot get out. The Ways are shut. Oh Elyon, is this the end?
-excerpt from a Hand soldier's journal, dated to the Third Battle of the Library. Casualties are still being counted, and it must be noted that the Library would have fallen if not for the heroic actions of the Three Moons Initiative and the Mekanite cultists. Because of this, Neo-Maxwellism was classified as the Eighth True Faith.
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On a cold winter morn, in the time before the light,
In the flames of Death's eternal reign, we ride toward the light,
When the Black Foe is toppled, and the darkness has passed,
The sound of fey laughter covered the world this night.
-From Fire And Darkness, a recovered Logarian war cry.
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A living shadow, a face changer, a being that walked in Creation unseen. A child of A'tellif, the Sixth Bride of the Scarlet King, one who opened Ways and spread the War Against Creation. It neared the open gateway, ready to begin the Fifth Battle of the Wanderers' Library.
Hordes of creatures followed their commander, with many more armies assembling in the Abyss and on occupied worlds, all of which would soon have an open gateway to the Library. Behemoth amalgamations flanked the Changling, bloated with hate and bred in the Stygian darkness of the Abyss. Men, monsters, beasts, beings, reality benders, wonder-workers, gods, powers, giants, they were all there, ready to gain a decisive victory over Elyon's forces.
The Changling passed through the portal, nearly invisible to the Docents. They could sense its presence, but the thing's position was uncertain. The creature killed two Docents with a pair of ethereal blades just for fun, before summoning a surge of energy around itself as it began to create a multitude of Ways.
A brilliant crimson color filled the stacks as pure thaumic energy radiated into several newly-forming wormholes. Multiple branching bolts of essentia broke off the body of the Changling, compacting the Ways into a fixed shape. The Shadow commanded the awaiting armies to march forward, and all Sheol broke loose.
...
An alert materialized on Nolek's clockwork wristband, showing an invasion in Wing-GANYMEDE-29. Already, legions of operatives, warriors, and skilled magicians were being dispatched to the site to quell the chaos, with an unholy amount of Docents swarming across the Library in an unprecedented migration toward the battlefield.
Some more holographic video feeds came, showing an abundance of the Library's defenses. The bookshelves around the rogue Ways were lifting off of the ground, a unseen force moving them to a location where they would not be harmed in the foray. Some Ways were being collapsed, while a few were created to allow immediate access for the defenders to the area. It seemed as though the entire battlefield was being terraformed from a conflict between the sky-high stacks into a level, open wooden field like the battlegrounds of old.
"This is Jake, isn't it?" L.S shouted. "He is like a magnet for bad luck! The chances of an attack like this occurring naturally are infinitesimal! We stand and fight, or perish in the attempt. I will be joining the fight, for one. Is anyone with me?"
Tess, Hopper, Looker, Anabel, and Nolek raised their hands, as distant rumblings reached their ears. "We will not leave the Library to death and destruction! Hope yet remains. This is but a slight assault, easily repelled with a concentrated effort. And where is Jake?"
A golden rippling in the air told the six that someone had recently entered a Way leading to the battlefield...
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The war zone was now a wooden plain, miles upon miles across and blackened with the impact of hundreds of thousands of magical blasts. Millions of Docents had appeared, some being assimilated from the ranks of the fallen Shadow-slaves. More and more rogue Ways opened, and a total of three additional Changelings had entered the fight in the time that had passed since the battle began. The first has been killed by a lucky strike from a Hand sorcerer, but the tide would not be stemmed by the far more skilled, but infinitely more limited forces of Good.
Looking as much as it could into the Library, it felt sadistic glee as it saw its enemies, laughing as the two groups sized each other up. It knew that no matter how many of its slaves were defeated, two more could take their place. This petty show of apostate Elyon-worshippers and wizards would crumble, and then the Library would burn...
Tess rode Salamance through the smog-filled air, lines of defensive shields composed of energy and fire covering her position. A line of quadruped creatures was charging at the Docents, covered in loose mail, or maybe that was their hideous hide. They slammed into the first line of the defenders, their numbers already halved from a substantial and constant volley of traditional munitions, magical blasts, archaic technology, and many other ranged projectiles.
And the Docents slaughtered them.
Slaughtered them.
It was a vicious storm of gore and bone. The million-strong force of beasts lay mutilated and broken in a matter of seconds. Twisted and cut, their bones were littered at the Docent's feet, their flesh hanging like dust in the air. The Docents absorbed the blood of their foes into their dark skin and reassumed their previous positions, not harmed in the slightest.
The battle continued, and Tess quickly realized that this fight was increasing to a conflict of such gigantic proportions in such a short amount of time that all wars in her world could not compare to it. Of course, there was one possible exception, but the War of Wrath didn't have thaumaturges and liquid ooze monsters fighting in the ancient war.
As the cloudy 'sky' darkened and the air filled with the din of battle and the sound of screams and roars, Tess realized that the air was becoming unsafe. The defensive shields were not strong enough to prevent every single projectile from entering the ranks of the defenders, and several thousands of the enemy could fly. Landing in a burnt corner of the battlefield, careful not to look at the corpse of a Mekanite warrior vaporized beyond the point of repair, Tess decided to observe the battle from afar...at least for now.
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The Shadow emerged through the open gateway, although not as itself in an incarnate form. That would destroy its forces in a few nanoseconds as every atom in their warped bodies exploded faster than light.
No, the Shadow's avatar was a flowmetal mechanation, with a gelcircutry brain encased in electrafuild, with advanced thoutrodes capable of transferring a part of the Shadow's consciousness onto the battlefield in person. Silvery gray and nearly indestructible, the seven-foot-tall humanoid robot saw that the battle was becoming far too great for anyone to command.
As it released robotic watcheyes across the plain, the Shadow debated what it would call itself in this form. It had been taken from an evermind-level AI allied with the Shadow that had called itself Seurat...but that sounded too unoriginal. Why not...Thurrius?
Through one of its spy drones, Thurrius saw Jake, fighting in the front lines like a madman, brandishing the plasma glaive of a fallen warrior as he carved up monstrosities seamlessly. The two accursed Hand members were going toe to toe with another iteration of a wonder worker, while the foolish due of Anabel and Looker simply were trying to stay alive. The girl would be dealt with...killed in the fray, most likely.
Thurrius altered the flowmetal near its visual receptors to give the impression that it was smiling. While the corrupted gateway that had allowed the Children of A'tellif to pass through would likely collapse if Jake left the Library, taking his curse with him, the created Ways would endure. The Shadow noted that it would make it a priority to follow Jake in the case that he left the Library to destroy the world that he had come from, for the Shadow to let him realize in his dying moments that all of the former Pokedex Holder's actions only had aided Evil.
Pointing a metallic finger forward, Thurrius bellowed a war cry. Another Way popped into existence, causing the Children of A'habbat to pour forth. The Deathless, the Hard-To-Kill-Lizards, the Indomitable. The reptiloid beasts surged into the lines of Docents with pitiless cries, devouring and killing with no regard to which side their victims were on. Beautiful.
...
Tess saw the Docents break under the weight of the assault, causing the rearguard to march into action. "We will fight against the soulless enemy with a righteous and unyielding spirit! Elyon wills it!"
"Elyon wills it!" The other warriors cried, before charging into a swarm of hideous creatures, with too many arms and not enough tentacles, agglomerations of parts that rightfully belonged to more fair beasts. The noise was terrible, and Tess fled at the mere rumor of the other monsters. Was she crying? It was too loud to tell.
A nephilim tore a Docent in half and threw the remains into the confusion. A kraken lifted its head into the clouds for a moment, before withering both humans and humanoids in a deluge of cepacian fire. Monsters that surpassed even the wildest dreams of humanity's artists dueled with wizards, while the multiplying Ways revealed worlds that would turn a human into a Dante or a Poe if they could stay sane long enough to explore them.
From other Ways came millions of great heroes, friendly giants, and more and more armies to defend the Library. The Docents never did seem to die out completely, as new Staff members would be formed from the bodies of the fallen enemy. But then the Deathless routed the defenders as an elk flees a hunter, and under the command of the Daevite beast-chainers, they became a spear of terror in the arm of the Shadow.
Garchomp shielded Tess from harm as any semblance of order degraded. Salamance was fighting a bat-thing, and where in the world had Looker and Anabel gone? Dead? Worse? How could Jake even still be alive in this chaos? How could anyone survive in the very end?
The Rounderpede was impaling thousands and thousands of monsters along its segmented legs, while the Great Serpent did battle around the Library's borders. Sky-high mechanical automation clashed with organic meat monsters, while ghostly warriors from the Halls of the Dead came to the Library's aid. Artificial dreadnought angels fought in the name of Mekhane, while the world's nations fought to hold the hateful wave back for every possible moment.
"The Scarlet King!" A lich cried, so close that the desperate shout reached Tess's ears. "The Scarlet King rises from the Pit of Megiddo with all his Leviathans! The time has come for all the Gods to descend from Deep Heaven and rise from the Abyss to make War upon each other! The Last Battle is at hand, at long last! For wrath, ruin, and a final victory! Fight to the last!"
The Last Battle is said to have many triggers, but verifiable evidence exists that some must be fulfilled before the End. And the Final Battle had not yet been met, but it could indeed come in a certain form, unlike anything that one would expect. For the Ways grew red and wroth, heralding the coming of the Crimson Shah. The Library was groaning in fear, as some wings were burning, and books were being destroyed in the Battle of Battles.
Ways collapsed and formed under the guidance of the Children of A'tellif. Many had been slain by great warriors and thaumaturges, but five still remained to spread the war. And there was the greatest portal, swelled to a behemoth size, that would not cease to exist as long as the anomaly that was Jake remained in the Library...
Tess, in a break in the field of war, was faced with the largest, meanest, and stupidest Tyranitar that she had ever seen, called from some unknown world. Time for a good old-fashioned Pokémon battle.
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Jake was blinded with blood and gore as he cut through the star-spawn that was the army of the Shadow, slicing through bone and gristle with his pulsesword, filled with uncontainable rage at the things that served the being that had taken his friends, his life, his reputation, his Pokémon, everything-
"Ho!" Nolek yelled, picking Jake up with superhuman strength. "You stand and fight marvelously young master, but the time for your absence is nigh at hand! Follow me back to your own world, and then this one might be saved!"
Still screaming, Jake protested that his world would be destroyed if he returned. Nolek simply said that the forces of the Library would protect it as was necessary, before dragging him at an incredible speed through Armageddon. A Cthulhu-thing burst apart in their wake, before nebulously reforming itself. Some insect-looking bloke tried to take the two down from the air, until a friendly passing eagle swallowed it with a single gulp before soaring down to peck at the bulbous, clustered eyes of a spider the size of a truck.
"What are you going to do once I'm gone?" Jake groaned. "Blow these things up?"
"In principle," Nolek replied. "Reinforcements are coming, major ones. When we drag your sorry rear back to the world you came from, we'll start really getting down to business..."
...
Sandstorm!
High-speed granules of matter materialized around the Tyranitar and battered Garchomp as it shielded Tess. The corrupted Pokémon had sustained multiple attacks that should have defeated any normal Pokémon, but it was being moved by a force bent on one thing: the eradication of all to nothing. It would not be stopped as long as its master's Will was in it.
Salamance flew from behind and blew a Dragonbreath attack directly to the back of the Tyranitar. Instead of blanching with pain, it stood upright and jolted backward, wounding Salamance on its horns. The beast turned and then gave the dragon a skull-crushing headbutt, defeating it.
If only Tess could use her Z-Power! The Library prohibited it, likely as a damage precaution. Indeed, some of the weapons of the enemy legions were simply not working due to the Library's internal defenses. They were still fighting a battle from home, no matter how short it had been since it began...
Garchomp took a blow, and then was attacked from the rear by a yellow-colored monster, allowing the Tyrannitar to defeat Garchomp. Why, oh why didn't she have Haxorus with her...
Tess brandished her photon disperser and fired shot after shot into the charging Tyranitar, but the energy blasts simply reflected off the Pokémon's stony hide, leaving faint burn marks. She was hit to the ground, her synthsuit absorbing most of the kinetic energy. However, the monster's dark magic and brute strength allowed the blow to actually damage the incredibly sophisticated inner workings of the invisible synthsuit, causing the air around Tess to flash red with shimmering static.
The Tyranitar reared for another blow, but a Toxicroak appeared out of the chaos and stuck it in the leg with a Poison Jab. A Toxicroak, out of all things? Looker!
Agent Looker and Anabel had emerged from the unbelievable battle, covered in soot and stains. The Tyranitar expelled the poison from its systems, and then readied to attack again-
-and instead swung its fist into the fray, hitting a man who had been ready to strike it down. The robed figure tumbled as its pace was broken, landing stunned and overborne at the Pokémon's feet. Nolek could not even scream as the beast reached downward to bite his throat...
Jake had recovered from the fall and cut the Pokémon across the back of the head with his pulsesword, causing it the bellow in pain, relenting its groping reach toward Nolek. Toxicroak jabbed out one of the thing's eyes, but it continued to fight like a maddened animal.
"HI-YAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A golden cross borne in the hands of some unlikely warrior struck the Tyranitar over the back. Such a strike should not have bothered it in the slightest, but the creature howled as if it had been mortally wounded. The Pokémon burst into flames, whimpered, and fell dead without another sound.
Rabbi Cahn stood with L.S, Hopper, and his other cohorts, looking like he was fifty years younger. "The Cross of Mercy! Why is it so damn powerful? Because it's so full of mercy, that's why!"
"It is Allah's will that our paths cross in the field of holy battle," Zairi said. "Many of our fellows would not march to the aid of the Library out of hate for the Hand, but we remain among the faithful. But there are too many of our enemies, and they have rallied around a single gateway that we cannot close."
"That's what our young friend Jake is for," Nolek said, getting to his wearied feet. "I cannot create a Way in this confusion, it is more likely that I will simply kill myself than send us anywhere useful. We must find the Way that L.S and Agent Hopper used to bring young mistress Tess and the others into the Library. We must flee this vast field of battle. Follow me, and I shall take you away."
The Horizon Initiative members left to rejoin the fight, and Tess grabbed Nolek's hand, while the others formed a human chain. "How in the world are we going to get to that Way in less than a whole week?!"
"Like so!"
And then they began to run. It first appeared as though the seven were running at a normal pace, although none of them were tiring in any noticeable way. But when they passed one of the Deathless that was charging at full speed into a group of Docents, it became clear that their speed was reaching supernatural levels. Whatever spell Nolek had conjured up working, and they showed no signs of stopping or slowing anytime soon.
The shelves appeared on the horizon, still moving farther and farther away as the battle spread. They passed through the empty aisles, past the vacant front desk, right toward the place where it all began, the same quaint, undisturbed lounge, always young and innocent.
Nolek spoke a Word of Command, and the Way opened with a bang. Looker and Anabel immediately jumped inward, and returned to the party grounds, screaming and yelling in delight.
L.S and Agent Hopper saluted and turned to leave. "The fight will continue long after Jake is gone. We must retrieve the Spear of the Unbeliever, and with the coming reinforcements, the Shadow's plot will be thwarted. May our paths cross again, if Elyon wills it!"
After Nolek vanished, Tess felt like she was going to weep, and turned to leave, hoping that the Library still could be saved with whatever scheme the Hand had concocted. She expected Jake to follow, but he still remained, still and implacable.
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"Jake. We need to leave."
Turning, Jake smiled. "No, I don't think I do. I am going to fight until I die, killing the slaves of the thing that took everything from me. When I go, the curse will be gone. Don't. If you take me back, the Shadow will attack your world. You know that this will happen."
"Shut up, Jake. Stop faking. Go through the Way! Now! Every second you delay, the battle becomes worse!"
"Tess."
A single tear fell down Jake's cheek, and Tess realized that this was the first time she had seen someone cry in many months. Bronze certainly never would. Tess herself wasn't a natural crier. And Jake had been gone for so long...
"I wish I could take it back. Change the past, grab the bullet and save everyone I lost. I wanted to save your life like you saved mine. But now it's far too late. The only thing you have about me is the story to tell."
Tess was crying too. "No! Come back! We can on, and make it seem like this never happened! The Hand is going to help us, don't you see, you stupid idiot? We can marry. The years will pass by. We'll grow older, thinking about all we made it through. Some people have passed away, some have moved on. But I'm here today!"
I'm here today!
Jake sobbed. There were no words to say, no second tries. Not anymore. The Way was beckoning, a portal to a destination of hope or desolation. What would it be like to smell aa flower again, a real one? What would it be like to see a world full of Pokémon?
"Take my hand! We'll go through, together, like it began!"
"Take my hand, Jake!"
...
Thurrius screamed, but it came out as a tinny and distorted growl. The prime gateway, no longer held in place by an ambient probabilistic anomaly, collapsed, killing millions and millions of the Shadow's slaves. Qlippoth's victory was eluding it when it had seemed the nighest.
But the victory was still attainable. The Children of A'tellif would open new Ways unto their deaths. And now, revenge had to be served to one who had denied its will.
Thurrius left the charge of the assault to the greatest of the Changelings, and then maneuvered its mechanical body into the Abyss. A sickly green Way appeared before it, with a forest clearing on the other end.
Paying no notice the startled and quickly fleeing boy on the other end, Thurrius began to send his personal bodyguard into the sickly, corpse-colored, phosphorene portal...